Judge fines Wal-Mart in deaf workers case

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A federal judge fined Wal-Mart $750,200 for violating an agreement to improve treatment and training of its deaf employees.

U.S. District Judge William D. Browning on Wednesday also ordered that the store chain produce a 30-second TV ad to be aired in Phoenix and Tucson every day for two weeks.

The commercial must explain the Americans with Disabilities Act, state that Wal-Mart has violated it, and refer people who may have been discriminated against to the Arizona Center for Disability Law or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Company spokesman William C. Wertz said Wal-Mart will seek another hearing with Browning, contending the company ''complied with most of the provisions'' of a consent decree it signed in January 2000.

The consent decree required Wal-Mart to accommodate William Darnell and Jeremy Fass, two deaf men who alleged that the company violated the ADA in refusing to hire them at a Tucson store.